Personal Internet Security report

The Science and Technology Committee which comes under the governance of the House of Lords have published a report that throws light on the problems related to personal internet security faced by both individuals and businesses in the current scenario in UK. The report which analyses this problem from various perspectives finally offers recommendations so that personal internet security can become a reality for the internet users.

The report says the internet security measures are quite inadequate at a time when a number of applications use internet almost in every walk of life. Nowadays, internet has replaced any other communication tool in terms of cost, speed and reliability. Not only people use internet for sending mails, they also browse information through various sites, do shopping and banking via internet. However, the report says, internet as it is used in present days, is not equipped with enough security technology that can help users from hackers, spammers or such unauthorized users.

So, the report suggests that internet security can be effectively accomplished by a collective effort – from hardware manufacturers to ISPs, from police to judiciary, all can contribute to the effective internet security. What can an end user do when anything goes wrong with network traffic, or the firewall in the router or the software newly installed on the PC? The report reads out:

“The current assumption that end-users should be responsible for security is inefficient and unrealistic. We therefore urge the Government and Ofcom to engage with the network operators and broadband providers to develop higher and more uniform standards of security within the industry.”

The recommendations given by the committee for safer internet access are in fact related to ISPs, hardware & software manufacturers, businesses that use internet and finally the end-users. The report asks the ISPs to be more responsible for internet safety because it is they who provide broadband access to the users and it is their utmost responsibility to watch what is happening over their traffic. Similarly, the hardware & software manufacturers and businesses should develop higher and more uniform standards of security within the industry, the report suggests.